WMAP Image of Cosmic Background Radiation (Source: Wikipedia Encyclopedia - WE)
Poster on the Lecture projected on the Screen
1. Introduction I attended the first public lecture of the In Search of Truth (I-SET) Series organised by Universiti Islam Malaysia (UIM) with the intellectually inquisitive topic of 'Was the Universe Designed for Life on Earth?' presented by the First Malaysian Astrophysicist, Datuk Dr Mazlan Othman, FASc held on Tuesday 22 September, 2015 at the Grand Putrajaya Ballroom, Putrajaya Marriott Hotel. It was participated by an estimated 400 largely representing students and academic staff of the universities in Klang Valley. Datuk Mazlan is currently the Director of the Mega Science 3.0 Project at the Academy of Sciences Malaysia. After obtaining her Ph. D in Astrophysics, she had an illustrious career, initially as a lecturer at UKM and then appointed to set up the National Planetarium where she became its chief executive. She subsequently set up and led the National Space Agency (ANGKASA) and later spearheaded the National Astronaut Program, which saw the launch of the first Malaysian astronaut in 2007. She took a break serving the nation by taking up the position of Director of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (OOSA) in Vienna, Austria. For her contributions, she has been conferred numerous awards, among them are Honorary Doctor of Science from University of Otago, New Zealand and Universiti Sains Malaysia; Russian Federation 'Blue Planet' Award; President's Medal of the UK Institute of Physics; Austria Space Forum Polarstar Award; International Academy of Astronautics Social Science Award; and International Telecommunications Union Merit Award.
2. Opening Ceremony . In his welcoming remarks, Tan Sri Prof Dr Mohd Yusof Noor, President of UIM noted that universities play the role of disseminating information to students for attaining qualifications but unfortunately, members of the public were left out. UIM therefore has taken the initiative to organise a series of public lectures to allow people to enjoy intellectual discussions and at the same time, in contributing towards shaping their attitude on certain issues and fulfilling their knowledge and truth. The lecture series so far organised include U-Wise (in Search of Wisdom) and Halaqah Bicara Intelek and the latest being I-SET. According to Tan Sri Dr Mohd Yusof , 'the objective of I-SET is to search, explore and articulate the truth based on relevant researches and discoveries. It is not unusual for research to move into an area of ambiguity and even mysteriousness. This may be the beginning of the truth. It is a long journey and a very exciting journey, and there is light at the end of the tunnel'. The honor of officiating the inaugural I-SET lecture was given to a very distinguished Malaysian scientific personality, Y Bhg Tan Sri Dr Omar Abdul Rahman, who was the first Science Adviser. He has served with distinction with the Veterinary Research Institute and the Founding Dean of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences in the then newly established Universiti Pertanian Malaysia and currently serves in many honorary roles in both the national and international organisations. Tan Sri Omar is also recipient of honorary doctorates from five international universities and Emeritus Professor of UPM. In his remarks he highlighted the low allocation of funds for research and development in Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) averaging only 0.14 percent of GNP with Malaysia, allocating a slightly higher percentage at 0.6, compared to developed countries like Japan and Korea. The same is true with acquisition of knowledge in these countries, which need our attention.
Tan Sri Prof Dr Mohd Yusof Noor delivering his Welcoming Remarks
Tan Sri Dr Omar Abdul Rahman delivering his address in launching the I-SET Lecture
The official opening of the Lecture
3. The Lecture. Dr. Mazlan started her lecture with the Big Bang theory of the creation of the universe estimated to occur 14 billion years ago. Since then it has continued to expand exponentially in its early formation (according to Hubble Expansion and Inflation theories). The observable universe is estimated to have a diameter of 91 billion light years. It is constituted of heavy elements (0.03%), stars (0.5%), free gases (4%), dark matter (23%) and the bulk is dark energy (72%). The three possible option of its shape is either open, flat or round.
Timeline of the Universe (Source: WE)
Map of the Superclusters and voids nearest to Earth (Source: WE)
The Three Possible Options of the Shape of the Universe (Source: WE)
The speaker went on to emphasize that the laws of physics determine the nature of the universe. Nevertheless, she admitted that lately astronomers have found remarkable coincidences that led to fine tuning of these laws. The universe, under the fine tuning theories, is in a situation when 'certain universal fundamental physical constants lie within a narrow range so that if any of the several fundamental constants were only slightly different, the universe will not be conducive to the establishment and development of matter. For instance,
a. if the ratio of the strength of the electromagnetic force to gravitational force is slightly smaller, the stars would be less massive than the sun and therefore, incapable of producing heavy elements required for life. If it was slightly bigger, stars would be too massive, their lives too brief and too uneven to support life;
b. the strength the atomic nuclei bind together, determines the types and abundance of elements produced within stars which will influence the existence and type of life on Earth;
c. if the amount of material is too high, the universe would have collapsed. On the other hand if it is too low, galaxies and stars would have never been formed. So the amount of matter has to be finely tuned to allow a long-lived universe suitable for the development and sustaining life;
d. if the degree of structure in the universe is only slightly smaller, the universe would be inert and would lack any kind of structure and if a little larger, the universe would be too violent for the survival of galaxies, stars or the solar systems and only colossal black holes would exist;
e. if the anti-gravity effect which influence the rate of expansion of the universe changes minutely, galaxies, the stars and the planets and life cannot exist.
It is the fine tuning of the above factors that create the conditions for life to exist. Who ultimately regulates and controls the fine tuning?. It is Allah. However, a few physicists have theorised that the fine-tuned universe is due to its continued expansion and the existence of not one universe but many - multiverse.
4. Concluding Remarks. An intriguing subject indeed. Astronomy nor physics is my plate of knowledge as my educational background is more biological and agricultural. However, the topic is certainly of much interest to everyone of us, especially on the creation of the universe and the existence of life itself. The speaker has certainly enlighten us on the colossal size of the universe and for the first time, at least to me, to know that there are the possibility of more than one universe. Though I have taken much notes of the lecture but there were considerable information that was Greek to me. I have to resort to Wikipedia Encyclopedia, an extremely useful information source written in simple language, that I resort to, to get a better understanding of the difficult phenomena of the happenings of our universe and the many images produced in this article. My appreciation to the organizer for the invitation to the lecture, camaraderie of the occasion and the lunch.
Section of the participants
Photo with distinguished guests and participants (seated from right Tan Sri Dr Arshad Ayob, Tan Sri Dr. Omar Abd Rahman, Dato' Faridah; standing from right Dato' Hassan Mad, Prof. Dr Khalid Mohd Nor, Dato' Dr Hashim Abd. Wahab, Tan Sri Mohd Noor Ismail, Col Prof. Dato' Dr Kamarudin Kachar, Datuk Dr. Mazlan Othman, Tan Sri Prof Dr Mohd Yusof Noor, Datuk Dr Awang Sarian
Written and posted on 15/10/2015
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